Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1887-08-17

Il then went down on the ground and assisted
n taking the dead down, The people on the
,round put plank up and the bodies taken out
we're slid down the plank. The dead were put
n one pile and the living in another. Every
i've person seemed to want to see their families
It once.
"One OF tho horrible incidents was this: A
nan, well dressed, who was 30 badly injured
hat his bowels were protruding. called inces-
sanity for water and as he could not bo attend.
I'd to he finally pulled out Eie revolver and shot
himself through the head.
"One little boy, the son Of the Methodist min
ster ut Abingdon-Frank Snadecker. about l2
years old-was found on the bosom Of his dead
mother. His left log hung by the skin, his right
arm was broken and one eye was put out.
They pulled him ont and tried to give him q
drink Of brandy, He refused to take it aud
said: Give me water He never uttered Q
eroan. / found hsad hanging from truck.
10 was apparently that OF a man who had been
caught by tue hair.
Il found several hendless bodies Those
who recognized tho dcud immediately ticketed
them.
some of the most awful sights was that some
watches and valuables, and some people held
the theory that the bridge was set on tire in
order to thus Perpetrate robberies.
w. Quicker, one OF the Galesburg passengers,
relates singular experience. His wife and he
were in the rear OF chair car, the tenth car Of
the train. They had no warning OF what was
to come. The train was running at the rate Of
thirty five miles an hour. Mr.. Quicker was
aroused by the terrible crash of glass and
breaking timbers The end Of the car was
poised twenty feet in the air He crawled
slantng side of the car. His wife followed
safely. Several Galesburg people who were In
that end OF the car escaped without serious in
Jury. The top of the car parted in the center.
Tho other end was crushed like an egg shell.
7. p. Van LEW, who walked from the safe end
of the car the moment before, was caught and
injured.
There were thirty in the car" said Mr..
Quicker, "and only six survive. Out OF one
party of nine only three live. One man who
had lost his wife and child and was badly in
jured himself went into an adjacent cornfeld
and committed suicide Six young men from
Canton who were in the first car were saved by
being thrown up through the parted root A
woman seated near Mr. e 'cker thrust her head
through car window and was decapitated.
The pockets Of a number of those in jured were
picked by unfeeling rowdes."
X. &. Riser. of Kankakee who was at the
scene of the wreck soon after the disaster,
says:
Il was at FL Paso and missed the excursion
train by less than five minutes. Twenty six
minutes afterward took a freight train, and
When got to Forest the conductor had
orders to bring all the physicians he could.
When we arrived ut the wreck We found
the most heart-rending and indescribable
begging to be taken from the wreck, as
they were afraid of it catching fire. The bridge
was on fire and no water was at hand to put it
out All the trainmen and such passengers as
could went to work to smother the fire. We had
nothing to work with except our hands, and
had to carry dirt as best we could.
AT about 80 a IN. shower OF rain put out
the fire and we turned our attention to relev-
ing the people in the cars We worked until
8 Il. III and took out sixty-one dead
bodies, besides scores Of wounded peo-
lief trains took the dend and wounded to Piper
City and Cbatsworth The city hall and
school house at Chatsworth were improvised
into hospital and the citizens came to our
vnli in wi hn Tor nd
everything possible, especially bandages and
medicine for the suffering"
Mr.. Risser said he stood the sickening work
of relieving the wounded and getting out the
dead until he came to the dead bodies Of two
& rls about the age of his own. when his hu-
manity gave way and he was compelled to
stop.
THE DEAD.
The news of the disaster was brought to
Chatsworth by one Of the passengers about mid
night. and the inhabitants aroused. Buggies,
lumberwagons, and every kind Of vehicle were
used to reach the fatal spot As fast as tho
corpses taken from the wreck
they We're laid out on the side OF the
track. Before midnight the work Of re-
Chatsw orth was begun. As soon as the corpses
were received they were placed in a large
vacant building lately occupied as a store
also in the public school house rosasnts sna II; in
the town threw open their houses for
the reception OF the dead and wounded,
but the former were all taken to the
improvised morgues Friend and relatives
of the dead came to Chatsworth with
the remains, and the scenes in the different
places where the bodies lay were heartrending.
AZ the day passed bodies were being contin-
ually brought from the scene Of the wreck, the
majority of them being mangled in the most
frightful manner, many Cf them having their
faces entirely torn away, leaving their brains
exposed, While their jaws, fingers, and legs had
been torn off.
NOTHING TO LIVE FOR
There was one incident of the accident which
stood out more horrible than all Of those horri-
BILE scenes. In the second coach was q man,
his wife, and little child. His name could not
be learned, but it is said he got on at
Peoria When the accident occurred the en-
tire family of three were caught and held down
by broken woodwork Finally, when relief
came, the Imam turned to the friendly aid and
feebly said
Take out my wife first. I'm afraid the child
is dead"
So they carried out the mother, and as q
broken seat was taken off her crushed breast
the blood which welled from her lips told how
fair haired, blue-eyed girl Of 3, and laid her In
the corn-ield, dead, alongside of her dying
mother. Then they went back for the father and
brought him out. Both his legs were broken, but
he crawled through the corn to the side OF hia
wife, and, feeling her loved features in the
darkness Pressed some brandy to her lips and
asked her how she felt. feeble eroan was
the only answer, and the next ant she died
The man felt the form of his dead wife and
child, and cried out: MY God, there is moth
ing more for me to live for now |" and, taking q
pistol out of his pocket, pulled the trigger. The
bullet went surely throught the brain, and the
three dead bodies of that little family are now
living side by side in Chatsworth waiting Il
be identified.
INCIDENTS OF THE HORROR.
There was an incident in the affair which was
not only remarkable in its wav, but shows how
terribly those six coaches were janmed and
mashed together. When the accident occurred
Ar,.1x Nf ,1 ,nt,
well, who was in charge OF the train, were three
cars from each other. Mooney was in ths
second car and Stillwell in the fifth. Ths
next instant they found themselves literally
III each others arms, the car in (which
the conductor WAS riding having
been carried over the two in front and dropped
on top of the one which Mooney WAS in. Tn,
strange part Of it was that neither man wa
hurt.
There was also another wonderful escape IL
the first car. This car was completely tele
scoped, and the coach behind it crashed entire
ly through it, crushing every passenger. Onl!
four people escaped al We from this car, ant
three of them were badly wounded, but one,
large woman in the middle of the car, did no
get scratch, while every one around her wa
killed
Don't ask me to describe the scene sal,
Mr. A. H. stauffer OF Bloomington. 1T was In
describable. ran out OF the sleeper hal
out Of the wreck. One man in the chair-ca
called to me, and as l went to his aid l had t
literally walk ON tho bodies of other passeu
gers. While I had him in my arms and wa
trying to pull him out of the wreck, he gave
gasp and died.
MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.
Howard A. Cutter, of Carthage H., who va
in the Piper City wreck, ith his wife and baby
was in chair-car No. Is, the second from tn
day coaches. He says:
Il heard three bumps as though the car wa
off tho track. I said to my wife: We ar
gone. The timbers and sticks were flying ii
every direction. My wife said: %, Howard
are you hurtY / said no. had tho little gix
in my arms. My wife said: can
get out unless tear my clothes of
| kicked a hole in the window, lifted my wifi
ont and dropped the little girl out Of the win
dow. / measured this morning and IL wa
eight feet. helped two other ladies out wh
were fast, and then climbed out myself.
woman was lying against the window with he
head cut almost off. / took my wife and bab
out OF the way, and then went back and tool
out six dead bodies from our car. was bare
footed, and as / was getting my feet cut I
pieces turned my attention to the relief OF th
wounded"
He says that the sights he saw wore hear,
rending. There were men, women, and childre
with limbs broken, bodies mashed, head
mashed, several with the head severed from th
body, and mangIed In all tho most horribl
forms conceivable. He says he has no douh
that there were few villains there for the Oh
pross purpose OF plunder. He states that he sa,
one Of these outlaws climb to q car windo,